There’s been a lot of talk about gaming regulations in Europe recently. First of all the came the attempted German crack down on violent games, which could lead to many games being banned within Germany, followed by the European Commission muttering about regulating games development.
Now the British Government are getting involved, but unlike most incidents where games and politics combine, they seem to have a fairly sensible idea. Basically, the Labour MP Keith Vaz wants to set up a group to examine what should be done to educate parents about game ratings.
I see this as a largely positive move. One of the major problems when it comes to the negative backlash against games and gamers is the fact that many people (especially parents) don’t understand gaming or the attraction of it. It’s too much to hope that one minor Government initiative will change that, but there is a ratings system on games in the EU at present and a lot of people don’t seem to realise this.
At least for now we can remain happy that our city councils don’t mind the Grand Theft Auto game series being publically advertised and that Edinburgh City Council often use Rock Star North as evidence of the city’s booming electronics industry.
[Via MCV UK]
